Saturday, 1 March 2014

OR, if you want to pretend to be posh, "masque". Everything sounds more posh in French.

First: Welcome to March! First day of Autumn in the southern hemisphere, although someone really needs to tell the sun about that...

Moving on.
Today's post is a "beauty" recipe. Benefits of this mask may include: better circulation to the face; less dry skin; less oily skin; less pimples; more "awake" looking skin; reduced puffiness; through-the-roof "touchability" of the skin.

You will need:

Olive oil or apricot oil

Instant coffee

The reason you need to use either olive or apricot pil is because these are the closest in viscosity to our natural skin oil (sebum).
The reason you have to use instant coffee is because of the way it behaves when wet, ground roasted coffee just doesn't behave the same way.

**Important note: caffeine can be absorbed through the skin, so this will count towards your daily caffeine intake**

Method:

Warm one tablespoon of your chosen oil over a cup of hot water, or your tea (microwaving the oil can change its properties)

Add one tablespoon of instant coffee into the oil. After a few seconds, all the oil should be absorbed into the coffee.

Stand over your sink (I use the kitchen rather than the bathroom) and rub the coffee mixture all over your face and down your neck. It is safe to use around your eyes, but try not to get it in your eyes. Don't rub hard, as you should never scrub your face vigorously, and the instant coffee will be slightly crunchy. When you are done, you should look like this:

Except with your face instead of mine. You won't get my face by using this mask, sorry (it would be too confusing for my mum if everyone looked like me. I'm sure you understand).

Leave the mask in place for 10-15 minutes, or while you drink that tea. You can't hurt yourself by leaving this mask on a bit longer.

Stand over the sink and wash the mask off with just water, then go sit down for a while and touch your own incredibly soft face. You may even like to make other members of your household come touch your face. You will feel amazing (to touch. Emotional state will vary).

The reason using an oil close to your own sebum can correct both dryness and pimples is because dry skin is caused by not enough sebum, and this replaces that, whereas oily skin is caused by too much sebum. By putting a "sebum replacement" on your skin, it thinks it's already made some and doesn't bother making more (or at least as much) and the bacteria that causes pimples can grow in sebum but can't grow in olive or apricot oil, as long as it's a 100% pure oil.
The caffeine in the coffee has a "warming" effect, which is code for "brings blood toward it", so it will temporarily increase circulation to your face and improve your complexion as a result.
My disclaimer for this post is I'm totally not a real scientist, not a beauty expert and I only know what I've been told, but this mask does feel lovely.